Reviews by SunDevilBeer:

Been here several time over the past few years it's been open, mostly with my family.

Located in a very busy mall, the place is usually PACKED. If you come here on a Friday or Saturday night, expect a mob scene and quite a bit of a wait.

Sleek, ultra-clean atmosphere. Classic rock being played at a reasonable level. Plenty of flat screens showing sports. I dig.

Servers always extremely prompt and friendly, though in a borderline corporate way. Not a ton of beer knowledge, but that's OK.

As is obvious, the selection is huge. No esoteric or geeky options, just alot of mainstream craft flagships. On the negative side, the beers are served a bit too cold and samples cost $1 if you're sitting @ the bar (BOOO!)

I always hear YH's menu being compared perjoratively to the Cheesecake Factory, as if that's such a horrible thing? Hell, I'll take consistent quality food from the YH's kitchen over what some of these beer palace "gastropubs" are putting out nowadays. And I'll admit the food is a tad pricey too.

As I mentioned, I come here with my kids and they are always welcomed here. Good options for them too.

Vibe is a larger venue focused more on capacity than character. Service depends on how crowded it is; I've had terrible service at a table, great service outside and good service at the bar. Snack on the truffle fries while perusing the large selection of taps, including Wormtown, Stone, Ballast Point, Allagash, Clown Shoes, Pretty Things and nine dozen more. $6-7 for a pint so it's neither cheap nor expensive for the area. Worth a visit for the tap selection alone. I've seen the "chalkboard" taps pouring Backwoods Bastard, Allagash Avance and Lagunitas Waldo which is pretty great.

A - Big stainless steely room with some nice art, the central point of which is a huge bar with over 100 taps. Nice and clean enough, but loud and not very homey.

Q - The food is good and the beers are cold and seem fresh, although not always served in appropriate glassware. You would think a bar with more than 12 wheat beers on tap might have glasses other than pint glasses to serve them in.

S - Big place, and I felt like I got lost a bit. The drinks took a while to make it to our table after we ordered them.

S - Big selection, but a lot of the beers are not really crafty. While the selection was large, I found myself basically ignoring a good chunk of them. It seems strange feeling that a 4.25 score on selection is high considering there are over 100 taps.

F - I had a buffalo wing app that was nice, along with orange peel chicken that I really like.

V - Everything seemed like it was priced a dollar or two above where it should be. For two of us, 3 drinks each, an app, and a meal, the bill was $85. For me, the experience isn't good enough to justify that kind of price tag.

Atmosphere: Layout is similar to BBC, with a large, central bar and table/booth seating around, but has a more modern style. Has a glassed-in keg room visible from the dining room, which gives the appearance of a brewpub, although they don't brew onsite. I've been there a few times, and it always seems to be a bit crowded, which can be a bit off-putting if I'm trying to just sit and enjoy a few beers.

Quality: Everything is very sleek modern; always seems very clean. Beer is fresh and food has always been well-prepared.

Service: Bartenders and waitstaff are very helpful and knowledgeable - though more so about the food than the beer. Due to the aforementioned crowd, service can sometimes be a little slow, both in getting your order in, and in the time it takes for the kitchen to send it out (or for your beer to be poured) - in both cases, I've had better results when sitting at the bar rather than at a table.

Selection: Great number of taps, and a good variety of styles to choose from; no matter what your preference is, you will find something you like here. My only complaints are that some of the beers are served too cold, and the tap list doesn't change very much. If you're like me, and always looking for new and interesting beers to try, you might find yourself running out of stuff you haven't already had.

Food: The food is outstanding, if a little pricey. Some upscale menu selections, without being overly fancy.

Overall: It's been hard to find places that have a good beer selection that aren't off the beaten path, at least in my neck of the woods (SE MA). Although it is a chain, the Yard House fits the bill nicely - it has a good enough beer selection that I can have some brews I can't get just anywhere, but it is also a place I can take my wife (who likes beer, but not to the same degree) and have a nice "date night" in a great atmosphere.

My wife and I had just completed a chilled-to-the-bone 3.5 mile hike through the woods at a nearby Trustees of the Reservation Park in Sharon. We were cold, thirsty and hungry. Our plan was to reward ourselves for our healthy tramp through the woods with lunch (and Beer) at the Yard House. After winding our way through the maze-like parking lots, we entered Yard House and found a line formed from the reception booth and into the foyer. Everyone with buzzers in hand. 35 minute wait for table? There were a few seats at the bar, so we grabbed them (we prefer the bar anyway!)
It’s mid-afternoon on MLK Day and the place is packed. But, who are these people? And just what is Yard House?
At center stage, is a massive stainless oval bar (think NASCAR track) that anchors the entire restaurant. Lots of glass, stainless and modernistic motifs lend a sort of futuristic and/or industrial look. Flat screen TVs are mostly positioned where they are not in any particular line of sight. It’s a sprawling place yet there’s a logical flow and order to it. Restaurant-style seating surrounds the bar, creating somewhat narrow passageways. But it’s the array of tap handles that draws the attention. Indeed! 114 tap handles!
There are good selections of Belgians, Germans, English, US (East and West Coast, plus some familiar locals), along with a line of the usual suspects from the US mega-brewers (who must not be named), plus some of the easy-to-find Euro and Asian selections such as Henie, Stella, Peroni and Sapporo. What’s missing are a few rare, eye-popping, jaw-dropping selections that create that “nirvana” moment for the über beer geeks. But be assured, if you have a pulse you will find something to arouse the buds.
Baffled by all the beer choices? They offer a “Six Pack” of 5 oz. samplers. While it might be a nice idea to introduce folks to new beer styles, 5 oz. in narrow cylindrical glasses is too small an amount for the average beer enthusiast to fully capture the essences and nuances of a beer. It would be better to serve 4 - 8 oz. beers in wide mouth glasses. But, that’s just my opinion… A few seats down from us, a guy was rating his Belgian 6 pack sampler starting with the St. Bernardus Abt 12, followed by the Tripel Karmeliet. Good luck tasting the rest!
I ordered a Notch Session. It arrived in a standard pint glass with a proper 2” head. It was a bit too chilled, but not frosted. The Tripel Karmeliet arrived in a proper short-stemmed goblet, but it was too cold and the head was a bit stifled. I waited 5 minutes before enjoying. Bliss!
The food menu is interesting and varied enough with three full pages of tempting offerings. I ordered 3 different “Street Tacos” (Korean Short Rib, Chicken Tinga, and Korean Pork Belly). When the waitress brought our order, she explained that the chef had only enough pork belly for about ½ of their normal portion. She asked if I wanted to try a different taco option. I told her not to worry about it. The ½ portion was just fine. Long story, short…they took the entire order (which was delicious) off the check. Note to self; It pays NOT to complain! BTW - My wife ordered the vegetarian (with Gardein™) salad and was quite pleased with the quality and quantity of her choice.
So, what exactly is Yard House? A sports bar chain? Sort of…I guess you could gather there with friends to watch a game...enjoy some beer and appetizers.
Is it a beer bar? In a way…in a pretty big way, though a few of the über beer geeks might whine a bit.
Is it a gastro-pub? It could be interpreted as a very large one.
Is it a beer-focused family restaurant? Could be. There were families with children. They all seemed content.
The Yard House can appeal to a wide range of clientele without falling into any clique and that’s a pretty nifty feat!
On a side note; There’s a mega-Whole Foods in Legacy Place which happens to have a fairly solid beer section. Now you have an even better reason for getting in the car and visiting the Yard House.